Kaden and The Great War
by RatchetKicksAss44
Summary: Follow a teenage Kaden as he graduates from the Lombax Praetorian Academy and becomes one of the most prestigious beings in the Omniverse...Then has everything taken away. Rated T for violence, suggestive themes, occasional strong language, moderate mild language, and drug and alcohol references.
1. Ch 1- Hot Pursuit

"If vengeance is to be done to a man, it should be so severe that his vengeance need not be feared."

* * *

**Cha****pter 1**

**Hot Pursuit**

Location: Fastoon. Time: 0600 hours. A solitary figure was standing in the cockpit of a 50-foot mobile crane in the middle of a junkyard, Plasma Striker in hand. The figure crouched, looking across the horizon. The city was so peaceful at sunset. The lights glowed, outlining the buildings in colors of red, blue, and everything else those architects and fashion designers could come up with. The figure was perfectly content with a hooded jacket, a pair of pants, and a bandana- his exact clothing for this operation. He raised his weapon and looked into the scope. He squinted one eye closed, and adjusted the maximum zoom toggle. He checked to make sure the silencer was firmly attached. Funny-looking things, Plasma silencers. They looked just like the needle protruding from the actual weapon. Oh well. No matter, thought the figure. Tonight wasn't the time to think about the inner workings of weapons developers. This was his mission. This mission may just be the most important of his career. His comlink chirped.

"_Kilo-1-Delta, come in. Are you there? Over."_

"I'm here, Foxtrot-1-Golf. Of course you had to choose the postapocalyptic setup, over." replied the figure named Kilo.

_"Do we have much choice? Over."_

"Hooah, Foxtrot. We got Charger to thank for that. Over."

"_Do you see the POI? Over,"_ Foxtrot asked.

"Roger," replied Kilo. "He doesn't look anything different than the rest of us, though. And while I'm thinking about it, why didn't you get me a Plasma Slayer? Over."

"_Because the rest of our marksmen weren't able to rack up enough kills in time. So until you get your first actual mission, you're stuck with the good old Striker. Think about it. If looks kill, the minute someone sees you with a Striker, they burst into flames."_

"Very funny. I have eyes on the target. He's just standing there. Can we confirm that this is where they're meeting? Over."

"_Be advised, this is the best our intel could uncover. If he's there, the other will be there, too. Over."_

"Understood, Foxtrot, but with all due respect, do you remember the last time you told me that?" asked Kilo.

"_Well, we thought we were dealing with ghost dots, weren't we? Besides, you were burning in fast enough to miss most of the missiles."_

"Yeah, slight problem: I don't have hoverboots because you advised against it. So don't be surprised if I blame you in my report."

"_Like you ever surprise me, Kilo-1-Delta. Now get in the game. Out."_

With that, Kilo tapped his ear with his index finger, ensuring he would not be able to communicate with Foxtrot. He rested his Striker on the open cabin of the crane, his finger on the trigger and his eye on the scope. The target was in his sights. It pained Kilo to point a gun at the first target. _He's just standing there, smoking and loitering. Why can't I take the shot now_? thought Kilo_. _Another figure appeared next to Kilo's target. The second target, a Cragmite. Kilo shifted his scope over to the other figure, away from the smoke cloud that now enveloped the first due to his smoking. A hand reached out of the smoke cloud with something closed inside it. The Cragmite took two long digits from one arm and took the object from the hand reaching out of the cloud. The Cragmite looked at it, apparently in awe. The Cragmite put the object in its armor, and then talked to the smoke cloud. It paused, then nodded, then nodded again. It looked straight at Kilo, who was more than 100 meters away, took something out of its armor and threw it. Kilo followed the object with his scope.

_Oh boy. Agorian cocktail._ Kilo jumped from the crane as a huge explosion tore apart the cockpit he was standing in mere seconds ago. He felt the explosion on his back. His adrenaline rushed. He landed on a platform, rolling as soon as his feet brushed the surface. He ran along it, and as he did, he heard gunfire and felt bullets whiz by him, some ricocheting off his standard armor. There was a wall up ahead made of the sides of cargo containers. _Ah, no biggie, _thought Kilo, still running._ That looks about as high as my training course back home._ Immediately, he looked for something that could function as a wall. He looked to his right, but no such luck. He looked to his left- perfect! A giant, hollow cylinder made of cement, tiled at just the right angle. Kilo jumped at the side of it, and as soon as he made contact, he pushed himself away from it with his arm and leg. The force was enough to send him over the wall feet first, with just a swipe of the hand needed to ensure he made it over. He hit the ground, executing another roll as his comlink chirped.

"_Kilo-1-Delta, what's going on out there?"_

"They knew I was here," replied Kilo, panting as he ran.

"_Running wasn't part of the plan, Kilo-1-Delta."_

"When you see an Agorian cocktail flying at you, you don't exactly stand there thinking about running, you do it."

"_Where'd they get an Agorian cocktail?"_

"Three hunches of mine: it was homemade, which is extremely unlikely; it was purchased from Grummelnet or MegaCorp or another weapons vendor; or it was purchased from Destructopalooza, DreadZone, the Agorian Battleplex. You know, one of the lethal combat arenas."

"_How d'you know it's extremely difficult to make an Agorian cocktail?"_

"Cause I've tried it before. Oh, hey," added Kilo, "Can I return fire?"

"_You know the rules of engagement: Shoot if they shoot first."_

"That's all I needed to hear. Out." Without hesitation, Kilo pulled a small Constructo Pistol out of his armor holster and started blind firing behind him while he was running down an alley. _I need somewhere I can face these guys,_ he thought to himself. _I'm definitely not hitting any of them this way. Oh, yeah! The construction site!_ Kilo ran to the end of the alley and broke hard right. A bullet passed right in front of his eyes. Kilo dropped and slid along the sidewalk for 20 feet until he spotted a blockade of trash cans in his way. He prepared to jump over them. Sliding closer, he readied his legs. _Now!_ He bent his knees and his feet dug into the ground. As they did, his upper torso broke contact with the sidewalk. Kilo put both hands on two different cans, and vaulted over safely, landing on his feet and running again. He came to the end of the sidewalk and immediately turned left.

_Why is Fastoon so deserted all of a sudden? Not that I'm complaining, but I can't be the only one that notices._ Kilo looked to the horizon, searching for the huge skeleton building. There! To the right! However, Kilo saw a problem. It was too far away. He talked into his comlink again.

"Foxtrot-1-Golf, request teleport to construction site!"

"_Copy, Kilo-1-Delta. Standby for teleport."_ Kilo closed his eyes, counted to three in his head, and opened his eyes. The teleport was better than he thought it would be. He was at the construction site, sure, but he was also on top of building, the very top. He crouched down, pulled out his Plasma Striker, holstered his Constructo pistol, and brought his left eye down to the scope. No clear shots. In fact, he didn't see anything at all from where he was. Just-

A large force hit him in the back. It felt like a boot, but it could have been the butt of a gun. Either way, Kilo was falling 90 stories. He saw his Plasma Striker hit the dirt and burst into a million pieces among bits of scrap. Kilo was going to end up the same way. He was falling, falling…

And then his parachute deployed. Kilo was jerked back. As he floated down towards his broken Plasma Striker, he grabbed the handles of his deployed parachute. He felt like his spine had been ripped out. _Since when did I have a parachute? Oh, wait, I installed it, didn't I? Huh. Short-term memory loss at my age sounds like a disaster._ Kilo's feet hit the ground hard, barely missing a large wall of concrete that would turn him into a pancake. Kilo rolled for a while, grunting in pain. Finally, after almost an eternity, the rolling stopped. Kilo rose shakily to his feet. There was no trace of his attacker. Kilo spun around, checking for any signs of life. He looked back up at the building. He turned around and started walking. But not two steps in, there was a sickening _shnnk_.

Kilo's eyes contracted. He let out a weak "Ah," his mouth open and frozen in pain. He grabbed his left rib cage, and he felt the knife still buried inside his lung. His wound felt warmer and stickier than the rest of his body. The knife had another hand on it, and that hand ripped the knife out of Kilo's chest, causing Kilo to once again give a weak cry of pain. Kilo fell over. He couldn't breathe. He knew his hand was covered in blood. His killer walked over to him and got down on Kilo, one knee on his stomach. The figure was lombax. It spoke in a metallic voice, his helmet disguising his identity.

"Well, look who we have here," the figure said. "I've been waiting a long time for this."

And with that, he thrust the blade through Kilo's heart.

Kilo's mind was reeling. There was a huge whirlpool of the whole scenario, start to finish, but backwards. _Oh, God, this hurts my eyes. _

At last, it stopped. Kilo looked around. He was laying on the ground in a simulation room. The roof and walls were all metal. A series of small, glowing white panels covered the floor. But there was one more thing there: his murderer. This figure was wearing a simulation suit, as was Kilo. It had all been fake.

The figure's helmet retracted. It was none other than Alister Azimuth. He looked at Kilo and said-

"Open a tab, Kaden."

"I had you on the ropes," replied Kilo, who was now identified as Kaden.

"I know you did. That's why I got you first," replied Alister, helping Kaden up.

"You could at least _kill_ me when you stab me the _first_ time. It's painful as hell."

"Sorry. I can't see out of this thing perfectly clear. Anyway, you've still got the knife."

"Huh?" Kaden looked down at his chest. There was a black knife handle that looked much like the real thing. "Oh. No biggie." He grabbed it and wrenched it off of his armor. It wasn't a real knife, just an extremely realistic knife handle magnetized to the armor. The blood was just special effects, as well. "These simulations are pretty good, you know that?" he asked his white and red friend. "They can generate simulation worlds larger than the room itself, the world looks and feels realistic, the pain is almost identical…"

"It's the Praetorian Guard. They're the best."

"I think I could improve on it. Hey, Alister, I thought I lost you over the wall."

"You did. I had to use my hoverboots." Kaden looked at his friend's feet. They were indeed enclosed in Alister's hoverboots.

"Oh, come on. That's not fair."

"The enemy isn't fair, Kaden. You handled the situation perfectly. The only problem is that you were up against me. Nobody's beaten me in this simulation room since I joined."

"How about the hoverboot course? What about freaking hoverball?"

"Kaden, I've told you a thousand times. If you want to have worthy hoverball opponents, join the Guard's team! I'm not coordinated enough to throw a tiny Nanotech-sized ball through my legs and hit the bullseye."

"Well, you've got enough space between your legs if you ever want to," replied Kaden as the pair walked to the simulation exit.

"Har-de-har-har, Kaden. Don't try that kind of humor with anyone else here. I'm fine with it cause we're tight, but everyone else…they'll floor you in two seconds."

"Please. I'm a perfectly toned, six-foot lombax with reflexes like the devil quick limbs, and a knack for freerunning. I can handle myself in a fight." The exit door slid open, and they walked out, still talking.

"Apparently not, as you just saw not five minutes ago."

"I never said I was a special operations agent. I probably fit into the engineer divisions," replied the yellow-brown lombax as they walked down the hall.

"Not probably, Kaden. It's definitive. You're smarter than a Terachnoid."

"Alright, enough flattery. Let's go check in with Zorven."

"Zorven? You mean _the _General Kris Zorven?"

"Yeah. You never saw the posters, did you? '_Zorven's watching._' It meant he'd be overseeing our simulation with the rest of the normal Watchers."

"God...Zorven was watching me? Did I look good?"

"OK. Alister, I know he's the greatest military general in the history of the Omniverse, and that he's your only role model, but please, you're both dudes. At least keep it cool. No asking for his autograph or anything. Alright?"

"Yeah, whatever you say," said Alister, with the voice of an excited child.

"I'm serious. If you make me look bad, then I may not get to be where I want to be."

"Where? Finding first love behind floor-to-ceiling incubators?"

"Ha, ha," replied Kaden as they entered a room full of other lombaxes. "Now be quiet," Kaden lowered his voice, "Zorven's watching." They wandered around the room in silence. This was the Watcher room. The Watchers were people pulled out of nowhere, usually troublemakers, and ordered to watch the simulation. Each Watcher got a helmet just like the ones that the participants wore. Via a first-person viewing camera in the helmets, the Watchers could individually monitor every participant as they pleased.

As Kaden walked around the Watcher room, he recognized a few of the lombaxes that had seen his performance. There was Sergeant Grathmac, the only red and white lombax who ever split a Cragmite perfectly in two. There was General Kemak, who to this day was the only lombax, and for that matter, contestant, to successfully complete DreadZone. And there was Edan, Kaden's pyrotechnic friend. Edan was the same as Kaden, but a bit more out of shape. Of course, Edan didn't have eye surgery when he was three, like Kaden, but their career paths were different. Kaden was here by choice. Edan was here by law.

Edan had a natural calling to be a punk. He loved watching things explode, especially if they were molded into the shape of a Terachnoid or a Grok or a Teratrope or a Nether; even better was the actual living organism itself. If it blew up, Edan wanted to have it. But he was also a troublemaker. Most lombaxes who lived in Edan's neighborhood would give their own far-fetched tales as to why he was so evil. Some say his parents went out for a date late at night, and Edan somehow managed to get the holo-vision stuck on the All-Horror broadcast just in time to see someone get their eye stabbed out. Others would tell you he found a dead Zyphoid in his backyard and decided to play Doctor with it. And the rest would claim the most outlandish theory of all: that he had an abusive father who played hoverball with his friends and used Edan as the ball.

Whatever the case, Edan was always in trouble. He sprayed graffiti on walls with obscene words and unnamed parts of the anatomy. He jumped off a building to cause panic, then deployed a parachute, which enraged Fastoon authorities even more. And he stole technology from Megacorp and Pollyx Industries and gave it to Kaden, who refused to take it. Kaden remembered when it happened for the first time…

_"Hey Kaden, I got you something."_

_ I took my eyes away from the robot I was upgrading and looked at my garage window. Edan was slipping in with a wide grin and something in his hand._

_ "Where've you been for the past…" I consulted my holo-watch. "…two hours?"_

_ "Looking for a nice gift you'd like," he replied, still smiling. "Here. Take it."_

_ I took it, and as I did, I recognized its hexagonal shape. I looked at him with wide eyes._

_ "This is a Terachnoid chip!"_

_ "Yeah, it is. I knew you'd like it."_

_ "I'd like it if you had actually _bought _it with your own bolts, not _stolen_ it! These aren't for sale! You stole this; I can tell!"_

_ "Calm down, Kaden," he said, his smile slightly smaller. "It's just one. How many do they have? Four million or something like that?"_

_ "Five million, seven hundred fifty two thousand, four hundred and eight. But now you stole one! You do realize they keep inventory of every single one of them? They constantly pulse their locations to the Central Intelligence on Terachnos. I look like I've stolen classified Terachnoid technology!" I sighed. "How many units of the Polaris Defense Corps were on your striped yellow tail as you left the planet?" My question answered itself as a siren came from outside my house. I looked out of my window. It looked like the whole of Terachnos was on our trail. About seven thousand ships were in view. A broadcast came from one of them._

_ "This is the Polaris Defense Corps! We read stolen Terachnoid technology in your residence! Come out with your hands up or we will open fire!"_

_ I sighed and looked at Edan. "We're going to do what they say. You're going to tell them that you stole their technology, and that I had absolutely nothing to do with it. OK?" Silence came from my friend. "OK?!" I said with more force._

_ "Fine," said Edan. I opened my garage and started to walk out, hands above my head. Unfortunately, I didn't duck, and my head ran into the door._

_ "Ow," I said stupidly. I crouched down, hand still over my head, and waddled out. I turned around to see Edan limbo under the door, hands at his side and relaxed._

_ "Hands in the air!" came the voice again. Edan sighed and put his hands up._

_ "It was me! He had nothing to do with this!" he yelled. "Thank you," I mouthed. As I did, I tasted something metallic in my mouth. I also became aware of a warm liquid running down my face from my nose. I sniffed, hoping to stem the flow of blood._

_ "We'll see how that holds up in court, lombax!"_

_I really hope that doesn't come back to haunt me,_ thought Kaden as he looked at Edan. So many more memories came rushing back. The heist at Torren IV. The hoverball championships on Fastoon. _Good times…_ thought Kaden. Absorbed in his thoughts, he was unaware that there was a hand on his shoulder, until someone spoke to him.

"Come on, son," said the voice. "Let's go."

Kaden turned around and looked at the lombax behind him. General Zorven was talking to him in a stern but friendly way. Nothing about the veteran hero seemed negative. His body was relaxed. His feet were both facing forward. His brown eyes sparkled with sincerity. It was almost the older, happier brother version of Alister. Well, maybe not the eye patch.

"Corporal, I need to debrief you and Sergeant Azimuth, and I can't be in two places at once. I need you to come with me."

"Yes, sir," said Kaden hastily. "Sorry, sir. I was just thinking…"

"Looked more like you were in a trance, son," said the general.

"I would hazard a guess that it did," said Kaden with a breathy chuckle. "Where are we going, General?"

"The conference room. Probably the most boring area of the whole camp."

"Well, that's quite a strong opinion, sir. Are opinions alright here?"

Zorven chuckled. "You're funny, Corporal. Walk with me."

And so they walked. Back out of the Watcher room, down the hall in the same direction Kaden was walking before, they talked.

"What kind of work were you thinking of when you signed up for the Guard?" asked Zorven.

"Honestly, I started out thinking I wanted to be a special operations agent. But then I thought I really wanted to start digging into the science divisions. It comes naturally for me," said Kaden.

"Oh, really?" asked Zorven, seemingly interested. "Well, if you want to be the best of the best, you must have your sights set high."

"I do, sir."

"There's something that might interest you."

"What is it?"

"Unfortunately, I can't tell you that. Not until you're actually in the science division and high enough in the ranks. Right now, that's classified info for you. Sorry."

"I understand, General."

Zorven smiled at Kaden. He stopped at a door and put his hand on the knob.

"Alright. You ready, Corporal?"

"Ready, sir."

"Then here we go." With that Zorven opened the door and went inside, Kaden following suit.


	2. Ch 2- Debrief

"All war is a symptom of man's failure as a thinking animal."

* * *

**Chapter 2**

**Debrief**

Kaden entered the conference room. It was almost stereotypical of covert agencies. It had the oval table, the black chairs, the high, metal walls, the holo-projectors built into the table, the works. The only difference was the weapons hanging everywhere. Constructo pistols, shotguns, and bombs; Plasma Strikers and Slayers; seemingly dead Sonic Eruptors; Lava Guns; Vipers; even the artwork was of weapons and violence. Kaden thought it odd that a conference room was also an armory of sorts. _Whatever,_ he thought. _The Guard has its reasons._ Plus, he didn't want to criticize. Zorven was watching. Kaden saw Alister sitting down on the chair to the left at the very end of the table. Kaden walked over and sat next to him. Zorven took the chair opposite Kaden and put his elbows up on the table, hands folded. He looked at Kaden directly, who fidgeted uncomfortably.

"Congratulations, Corporal," he said. "I believe you are worthy of graduation tomorrow, maybe even a promotion if I can get it."

"Thank you, sir." Kaden was all smiles.

"However, that doesn't mean the mission was without mistake."

"I understand, sir," said Kaden.

"Number one: you actually let the transfer happen. You had more than one shot where you could have painted the Cragmite red. In a real scenario, you have to make sure that the package never actually gets handed off. You have to take the shot at the right time, make it look like it might actually happen, then you take the shot and scare the hell out of the guy in possession."

"Yes, sir."

"Number two: you didn't check the top of the construction building for enemies when you got there. That's also a life-or-death situation. If you just start running right into it, you might miss a couple of snipers or special operations guys, and then it's game over."

"Understood, sir. I'll do better in the field."

"Good. I'm glad to hear that. Now, if you want any pointers, I can give them to you if I'm available. There are so many young Guardsmen who could be so much better if they just asked for guidance. Don't be one of those Guardsmen, Corporal.

"You may leave us now, Corporal. I still need to talk to Sergeant Azimuth."

"Thank you, sir." Kaden got up and left the conference room. Ask for help? Of course. Kaden wanted to succeed at everything he did. Why not ask Zorven about joining the hoverball team? After all, since he came back from front line work, he showed a very bountiful passion for hoverball. His desire was so strong that Zorven not only became the referee during every match on Fastoon, including professional hoverball, he was also the Head of the Galactic Hoverball Committee. He was ideal for Kaden's question. But now as not the time. Zorven was still talking to Alister. _Besides, I have another little activity to get to…_

Kaden walked down halls for about three minutes. He stopped to look behind some of the doors. He passed the science wing, where they were experimenting with some kind of cryogenic grenade. He passed the engineering area, where he saw two lombax-sized robots fighting each other with mixed martial arts. One's head was disconnected from its body. Two lombaxes in the room with grease stains on their overalls wrote down something on their clipboards from behind safety glass. Kaden took his eyes away and looked ahead of him. There was the exit. This part of the science division was the right one. This is where he was instructed to meet.

Kaden walked right out of the exit. Fastoon, the real, sunny, friend-filled Fastoon. It looked so much better than the simulation. Famous for the Purple Horizon effect. Home of the lombaxes, and the number one tourism spot for hoverball enthusiasts. Unfortunately, Kaden was in the parking lot, so some of the starships were obstructing his view. He looked at them. _I'm making progress towards a new one. Course it'll be a lot better than these old junkies._

He turned to the right, and went down a sidewalk to the dorms. The Lombax Praetorian Academy was extremely confusing at times, especially the pathways. The Academy took up five kilometers in length and two in width; you were expected to get lost in your first year there. That's why some of the upperGuardsmen had been stationed on the routes to the different areas where they had sessions.

Kaden walked for a while, just taking in semi-deep breaths and seeing the sights. "Worthy of graduation, maybe even a promotion if I can get it." To have General Kris Zorven say that in person was…more than an honor. _Is that even legal? Can I hear that with my own ears?_ For some reason, Zorven made others around him uncomfortable, but he had no trace of negative energy in him. In fact, he was a friendly lombax, or at least that's how all the stories went. The only thing Zorven had wrath for was his enemy. Kaden would hate to be his enemy.

Kaden stopped in front of a door in the dorm area. It was a janitor's closet. _Don't know why they bother putting us with these things. Just use the old robots deemed unsafe for combat._ He walked inside it, closing it as he went. _Why here?_ He waited. Seconds turned to minutes. His anxiety built. _The janitor might open the door._ He pulled out a tranquilizer and hid behind a crate. He waited, crouching and hoping he could not be seen. The door opened a minute later. A female voice came.

"Kaden? Is that you?"

Kaden stashed his tranquilizer in his belt and stood up. He looked into the face of his girlfriend, Jasmine. Kaden loved everything about her, from her violet eyes to her silky fur. She stood as high as he did, but was not as well-built. She looked at him with an odd expression on her face.

"My Guardsman in shining armor?" she said sarcastically.

"I just thought that the janitor might come along."

"You do realize they never use this place?"

"I do, but I figured with my luck, the one time they did use it would be when I was in it. You graduating tomorrow? I only just came from my field exam."

"Yeah, but I probably fared worse than you did. I sort of ran into a Cragmite blockade and had to fight my way out." Jasmine smiled, then threw her arms around him. Kaden wished he could return the favor, but he was having trouble breathing. Jasmine relaxed her arms, and Kaden gasped for air.

"Sorry," Jasmine said.

"Don't worry," Kaden panted, massaging his throat. "I just went toe-to-toe with Alister, as I say. I doubt anything could harm me in any real way."

"Don't start thinking you're invincible, Kaden. You'll just end up getting killed. Did you graduate?"

"Corporal Kaden, fifth year in the academy. Though I did kicked off a building and stabbed in the heart," Kaden added. He sighed through his nose, enjoying their embrace. He closed his eyes, smelling Jasmine's sweet fur. His tail curled around her waist. As he thought about it, they never really had enough moments like this. Kaden breathed softly, following an invisible rhythm, until finally, Jasmine said,

"Kaden?"

"Yeah?"

"You're purring."

"Oh, sorry." Kaden felt his face grow hot, and he knew he was blushing. But that didn't matter, even if Jasmine could see him. He was a lombax, and lombaxes never really showed their blush because of the whole fur thing. He loved fur. It was so useful. Unfortunately, it was also easily flammable and was extremely attractive to mud-like liquids that took forever to remove. You take a shower every day with that stuff in your fur, and it'd still be there after a week. Luckily, Kaden hadn't had a mud run since six months ago, when he graduated to his fourth year in the Praetorian Guard. It made him look clean.

"No, don't stop," said Jasmine. "I get all warm inside when you do that."

Kaden smiled, and resumed breathing through his nose. His throat vibrated with every breath. It felt good. He felt Jasmine's grip loosen, and he loosened his in turn. They looked at each other, staring deep into each other's eyes. Their heads came closer together, and they kissed. Kaden's heart beat firmly in his chest. His brain lost track of his surroundings. He felt safe, like nothing could ever go wrong. He wrapped his arms around Jasmine again. She pulled back softly. She looked up at him, love burning in her violet eyes. Kaden could hold her in his arms forever. Unfortunately, he wasn't able to. His comlink screeched at him.

"Ring, ring, ring, ringgg…_Ring, ring, ring, ringgg_… Y_AAAAAAAAHHHHHHH!"_

"Sorry. That's my alarm," said Kaden sincerely. "I'm going to be late for quantum physics class. We're discussing how we can verify that reality is actually real."

"I'm just wondering if that's Alister's voice sped up to an incessant yell," said Jasmine.

"Yeah. I put cameras in his dorm to see what he does when he thinks nobody's looking," said Kaden, rubbing the back of his neck. "For some reason, he pretends he's Zorven and uses that 'ringtone' to call himself into action. Don't ask why. Only Alister knows what's in Alister's head."

"You two have the weirdest friendship of anybody I've ever seen."

"That's what keeps it interesting."

"Well, Kaden, we both need to be somewhere and this isn't it. I'm sorry if I…"  
"No, don't apologize," said Kaden quickly. "You didn't do anything that'll harm me in any way."

"Even so, I'll see you tomorrow, Kaden." Jasmine kissed him on the cheek, then walked off into the Fastoon sunlight. She turned to the right, where Kaden had come from, and disappeared behind the wall.

"Yeah," said Kaden, quietly and sadly. "See you…"

He walked out of the closet and turned left. _Off to quantum physics…_

As Kaden walked, he started daydreaming about Jasmine. He looked at an image of her and pasted it to the back of his eyelids, still walking. Before he knew it, he was at his classroom door. He looked up at the domed, metallic building, then down at the doorknob. He turned it and entered the room.

* * *

**Chapter-Inspiring Song: "Born to Win" by Papoose**

**I added a new character (who just so happens to be Kaden's girlfriend) named Jasmine. It sounds nice, and I can envision a Lombax with a name like that. She's more of a female Lombax than a tomboy, if you haven't already guessed. Anyway, figured I'd introduce (spoiler) Kaden's future wife into the equation. See you next time!**


	3. Ch 3- Home Sweet Dorm

"If you think of humanity as one large body, then war is like suicide, or at best, self mutilation."

* * *

**Chapter 3**

**Home Sweet Dorm**

Kaden walked into his dorm. He took his pack off of his back and put it next to his bed. He took his shirt off and lay back on the bed, lower legs dangling above the ground and hands folded behind his ears, enjoying the cool climate of the room as it rippled through his fur. He took a deep breath and sighed through his nose as he looked up at the metal ceiling. It was painted to look like wood, of course, just for comfort. But then again, when did the Guard ever care about comfort? They certainly didn't consider it when they started crafting the bed mattresses. Kaden ended up sleeping on top of the covers just so he could get some rest. The rest of the place was nice, though. Everything had a certain something to make it unique, yet everything seemed uniform.

Kaden sat up. _Well, I did it. No use worrying about the future now. Let's just enjoy Zorven's praise for as long as we can._ He fired up his VG9800, grabbed a controller, and started playing.

_I wonder if we'll rematch tonight_, he thought. He had been using his VG9800 strictly for weekends, but now that he was graduating tomorrow, he figured it wouldn't hurt. He had recently purchased the new installment of the _Road to War_ series, an extremely gory first-person shooter game which followed the story line of the Lombax Praetorian Guard when they fought off Agorian invaders ten years ago. Kaden had already breezed through the campaign on the _Insane_ difficulty, and he decided to try his skills on the PlayCloud, a multiplayer feature that included weapon customization, decals for your avatar, in-game communication, and more. There, he had met his gaming nemesis: LombLordLucky7z. They had a sort of love-hate relationship, because they were often paired on the same team, not separated. And LombLord only played Team games. Kaden tried to find LombLord on the player list on every single one-man-army game type, but to no avail. Based on LombLord's gameplay, Kaden guessed he was actually Terachnoid. After all, even though some people had poor communications headsets, there were never any Terachnoid-sounding lombaxes he ever knew.

Kaden navigated to the multiplayer menu and selected _Team Elimination_, where he was most likely to find LombLord_._ With a 5-minute playing time, each team, Agorian and Lombax, needed to rack up 1000 points before the other team did or before time ran out in order to win _Team Elimination_. Normal weapon kills scored 50 points, special weapons kills scored 100. Weapons were just rifles and shotguns and things like that. Special weapons were drones and high-damage grenades. Even though Kaden was patriotic, he enjoyed Agorian weapons more than he did Lombax ingenuity. Of course, he was never actually on the Agorian side, except for select few times.

The PlayCloud started to load his round on the postapocalyptic city map. He checked the team listings. He was Agorian this time. _Alright! Get ready to die, you sad little men!_ He looked at who he would be against. There were a few players he recognized, mostly because they were so easy to kill. Then he saw LombLord on the Lombax team.

_YES!_ Kaden smiled in victory. _You're going down, buddy. No luck this time!_ The game started, and Kaden selected his pack. It was one of the best combinations on the Agorian side of the battle. It consisted of a high-powered assault rifle with a sight, modified to fire laser beams that traveled so fast, it looked like a solid beam of light; an energy pistol that could blow someone's head off, fitted with a silencer; a foot-long knife that could go right through an enemy; and a timed grenade that could stick to any surface, including enemy players.

Kaden chose his weapons and started sprinting down a path to the right. He stopped behind a building, crouched, and looked around the corner. There was an enemy unaware of his presence. He switched to his pistol and shot the guy in the arm. There was a large flash of blue Lombax blood, and the enemy fell down, grabbing the stump that used to be his arm. He bled out and died, earning Kaden the first kill. Kaden got up and started running again. He sprinted, then hit the crouch button. His character slid feetfirst and turned to the left 90 degrees. Kaden saw another enemy. He pulled out his rifle and unloaded three rounds.

His target's head was hit by three laser beams. The enemy now had nothing but a lower jaw remaining from his head. He bled freely and vigorously, falling over backwards. _Butcher!_ came a deep male voice from the game. _Knife proximity grenade ready when wanted!_ Kaden was about to press the button to give him his reward, and then second-guessed himself. _Let's end the game with LombLord being impaled._ No sooner had he said this than he saw the death screen. His character's head had been blown off, and orange blood painted the dirt. The kill log read _LombLordLucky7z executed LuckyShot13._ The screen showed LombLord's character in a window directly above. He heard a voice via communications headset: LombLord had commented on his kill.

"_I seriously doubt the realistic brain splatter has that wide a range for an Agorian."_

_Ooooh, getting sneaky_ and _intelligent, are we?_ thought Kaden. He switched his pack in the respawn menu, equipping an Agorian version of a Plasma Slayer. The minute he hit the ground, he sprinted to the window LombLord had shot him from. Nobody was there. Not even…

He remembered his simulation, and ducked just in time to miss a knife blade. He spun around and shot his attacker in the leg. His victim's leg flew off, and the body fell on top of Kaden's character. Kaden moved the body out of his way and ran out of the building again. He checked the kill log once again. _LuckyShot13 took his revenge on LombLordLucky7z._

_Hell yeah! That's a win for Kaden right there!_ Kaden heard LombLord yell an extremely obscene word in Galactic Standard, which lifted Kaden's spirits; Terachnoids only swore intensely when they were more than irritated. Victory in mind, Kaden turned right and ran behind a pile of rocks. A lone sniper right behind him shot at him and missed. Kaden threw a sticky grenade on the enemy, just for fun. The enemy was blown into little pieces, and when the smoke cleared, there was a large portion of blood where his enemy had been. Kaden looked at the kill log once more. _LuckyShot13 obliterated LombLordLucky7z._

_This poor guy's taking a beating!_ Kaden looked at the scoreboard. He was leading his team, and his team was winning, 300-175. A chat message on the screen caught his attention. _LombLordLucky7z_to_LuckyShot13:_ The following message included some rather strong language. The automated filter in the game entered a message: _LombLordLucky7z, do not berate other players or you will be kicked from the game._ Kaden laughed. He wished he had his own headset. Then he could tease LombLord the Terachnoid while LombLord raged. However, there was no time for that now. The game was close enough for Kaden to keep a cautious eye on the scoreboard. He equipped his knife grenade and dashed to the window where LombLord drew first blood on him. _That oughta surprise a certain somebody,_ thought Kaden to himself. He spotted an enemy and ran out to where his first death occurred. Kaden took careful aim and shot his victim's ears off. The enemy fell to the ground, grabbing the place on his head where his ears used to be. Kaden ran up to him, and put him out of his misery with a knife between the eyes.

_Merciless!_ said the male voice again. _Mini-Nuke ready!_ Kaden thought about it, then equipped his Mini-Nuke. _It'd be a shame if this didn't go to good use,_ he said to himself. He ran around like a mad Agorian, firing large bombs at everything in his path. The enemies caught in the explosions were hurled every which way, bringing a huge lead to Kaden's team. He checked the scoreboard.

_Whoa! 750-300! That's a decimation right there!_ Kaden was feeling invincible. Every enemy who tried to touch him had some vital part of their body detached, be it their head, their arm, their legs- Kaden had run out of body parts to shoot off. He did die a few more times, but he didn't feel too bad about being in the wrong place when a perfectly-cooked grenade hit him in the head. At the end of the game, Kaden's team had pulled a huge victory, 1000-350. The final kill had featured Kaden's proximity grenade impaling LombLord in perfect synchronization and splitting him completely in half.

_YEAH BABY! WOO-HOO!_ Kaden raised a fist of victory. It wasn't until now he noticed his hands were sweating quite intensely, making his VG9800 controller extremely difficult to grip. _Alright, enough satisfaction for one day._ Kaden turned off his VG9800 and sat back down, giving a sigh of satisfaction. He heard something. Now that his VG9800 wasn't giving off any sound, he thought he heard Edan playing his holo-guitar. Who else would be playing songs from the latest album from the Fongoid heavy metal band, _Tetramite Death Sentence_? How they managed the equipment under Polaris Defense initiative 1887-Upsilon, Kaden had no idea. Even now, he could see Edan's hand sliding up and down the neck of his holo-guitar, and his other hand playing so fast sparks were coming off of the strings. Kaden chuckled to himself. _Ever since Edan was a teenager…_

The door opened and Alister entered the dorm. Kaden stood up and looked at his friend. Everything about Alister was a mystery to Kaden. The facial expressions, the body posture, even the tail movement followed no pattern whatsoever.

"Okay. You're obviously not giving me the results of your review through telepathy. How'd it go?" asked Kaden. "Either that, or you've never seen me shirtless before, which I highly doubt."

"Not as bad as I thought it would go, actually," replied Alister with a tone of relief in his voice. "He said it was better than some of the other simulations he had seen. For example, he said somebody cooked a live grenade for a second too long in one simulation five or so years ago. But he did point out that a smoke cloud isn't really the best stealth tool."

"Yeah, and I know why. Lombaxes tend to absorb smoke. Which is the reason no Lombax I know smokes."

"He also said that I needed to aim better. He looked at me and said, 'You do realize that it's almost impossible to miss the target when you're stabbing it?' Then he said that I always have to aim for the heart. Sorry about that. I couldn't see very well," added Alister.

"Well, look at it this way. If you stab a Cragmite anywhere except the heart, you're dead."

"Can't argue with you there. But hopefully, I won't have to kill anything anytime soon."

"It's the Praetorian Guard, Alister. They're gonna be pulling out every single Lombax they can pull out to fight against the enemy."

"Which means the two of us."

"It depends. I still don't know where I'm headed, though I have my sights on the science division. I'll have the perfect motivation for creating something ingenious and functional."

"Yeah, your best friend's gonna be using it. I graduated, after all." Alister paused. "So what have you been up to?"

"Nothing huge. Just another debate in quantum physics, used the VG9800 for a while."

"I thought you didn't really use the VG9800."

"Well, I didn't have any research or projects assigned today, so why waste tonight worrying about what's going to happen in the future?"

"We're all gonna die in the future, that's why."

Kaden sighed in exasperation and looked at his friend. "Only you, Alister, could make such a boneheaded comment."

"Whatever. Fire up the 9800. I want to see how good you really are," he said with a homicidal smile.

"Better than you, Prince Ali." Kaden did as he was told. He opened up the multiplayer menu, tossing a controller to Alister. "I hope you trained for this." He selected _Splitscreen Mode_, enabling two players to use the same game system at once. Kaden selected _Elimination_. In this mode, it was every man for himself, ranging from two players to sixteen. The score limit was the same as _Team Elimination_, but the time limit was doubled, giving every player 10 minutes to reach 1000 points. In _Elimination_, you chose your species before each game; Kaden, however, had figured out how to code his VG9800 to always make Player 1 Agorian. Alister was now Lombax, and he looked at Kaden oddly.

"Why are you Agorian? They suck."

"I don't," replied Kaden. "Everything I have on the Agorian side is fully upgraded. I've basically become the best Agorian warrior in the game. For the entire Omniverse. Cool, right?"

"Yeah, but you're still not in my league."

"Oh, please. I passed your league in my first-ever match," said Kaden, selecting his pack and running around, looking for Alister. "Now shut up. I don't like it when my prey's distracted." The first few minutes of the game featured Alister and Kaden running around a base on Iris, looking for each other and shooting randomly, hoping to draw the other guy out in the open. Alister, however, ended up with the first kill, shooting Kaden in the head with a Plasma Slayer.

"Reattach your head and try again, Kaden. I'm stealing your gun," said Alister. Kaden said nothing. He was too busy waiting for the right time. Wait for it…wait for it…Now! Kaden started shooting at Alister with an Agorian machine gun. Alister's lombax was nothing but bits and pieces when Kaden had finished with him.

_Revenge!_ said the deep voice. _Double points!_ Kaden looked around. Alister was nowhere to be seen. Kaden ran into a building, pulling out his pistol and blowing out a window. He reequipped his assault rifle and looked for Alister, who was running right past him without even looking around. Kaden opened fire, and Alister hit the ground. The game went on like this. Kaden kept shooting Alister down, but Alister got a few lucky shots off. Just them, no computer-generated players. It took almost the whole 10 minutes, but Kaden eventually stabbed Alister in the back to win the game. Kaden turned to look at his friend.

"Told ya you should have trained."

Alister responded by hitting Kaden on the arm, smiling and shaking his head.

"Alright. Well, I've gotta be somewhere," he said. "See you tomorrow." He walked out of Kaden's dorm, closing the door behind him.

"See ya," said Kaden. _Graduation tomorrow! Thank God this is over! _Kaden thought about what would happen. He'd get promoted, probably put in a science division or a special operations platoon, but either way, he'd absolutely love the experience. What was it Zorven said?

"_There's something that might interest you…unless you're in the science division and high enough in the ranks…that's classified info."_

As Kaden ran that through in his mind, it struck him how appealing it was to be part of a clandestine organization in the Praetorian Guard. He would be requesting a spot in the science division, and would hopefully be part of something that would be remembered for years to come.

Kaden glanced out of his window. The dorms opposite him were full of light, and he could still hear Edan's guitar playing at finger-numbing speed. In one window, there was a shadow of a Lombax with his finger up on one hand and a beer bottle in the other. In another window, a Lombax was jumping off a table into a crowd of other Lombaxes. Kaden laughed, shook his head, and watched. The Lombax in the first window was shaking his beer-free hand and looking up at the shadow of a fan on the ceiling. Kaden sucked in some air through his teeth, but smiled. The two moons were full and high in the air. It was midnight, by the looks of it.

_Is it that time already?_ Kaden realized he had not eaten since before his simulation. _Guess I only have time for a nutrient tube. Otherwise, I'll just be up all night._ Kaden opened a drawer on the desk next to his bed and pulled out a silver tube. He ripped off one end and tipped it back to his mouth, swallowing the contents easily. It had the consistency of paste, and it tasted like starship oil. Kaden, of course, somehow managed to enable the addition of a sweetener without skewering the nutrients themselves. So his drawer was now full of sweetened, starship oil-filled nutrient tubes. He took off his pants and lay in his bed. _I made it,_ he thought to himself. He smiled as he thought of everything the Praetorian Academy had made him endure to get here: virtual-reality simulations, lateral thinking, mud runs, 20 kilometer treks through huge mountains with backpacks and weapons weighing him down. All of it was finally put to good use. Kaden was about to start his sixth and final year at the academy. After he graduated, who knew what he was going to do? Was he going to lead a war on the frontlines of battle? Was he going to build a weapon that could eliminate the lombaxes' every enemy? Would he be a stealth specialist retrieving lost artifacts or lombax technology? Kaden thought about what he wanted to do for his race. _Science division, definitely,_ he thought. _I'd probably just research stuff when I first got there, but I want to be part of that classified project Zorven was talking about._ He sighed. _I just hope I'll be accepted. Still can't believe I'm graduating tomorrow._

With this in mind, he closed his eyes and started to sleep. Edan's holo-guitar was still playing loudly in the distance. Lombaxes were yelling and whooping in celebration, and the two moons rose over the Praetorian Academy the night before Kaden would start his journey. Little did he know how much perpetual peril he would be in…

* * *

**Chapter-Inspiring Song: "This Day We Fight!" by Megadeth**

**Just like Chapter 1, I have some explaining to do.**

**VG9800 - _A Crack in Time _touches on it lightly. They reference it during Clank's tour of the Great Clock, where Sigmund is talking about its features, and they briefly depict gameplay of a 2-D fighter game between Dr. Nefarious and a bodyless Lord Vorselon. But of course, I need to put my own spin on it, so I tried a 3-D first-person shooter. Hopefully you found it interesting; I left out a description of the game map so you could imagine your own version of it.**

_**Tetramite Death**** Sentence -**_** I must admit, it does sound a bit odd, but really, isn't this true for all heavy metal bands? _Dragonforce_, _Dethklok_, _As I Lay Dying,_ _Pantera_...Who comes up with these names anyway? Whatever. All I care about is the music.**

**Galactic Standard - fancy phrase for English. This'll come into play later. Not every species speaks Galactic Standard as a primary language.**

**Until the next chapter...**


	4. Ch 4 - Graduation

"I hate war as only a soldier who has lived it can, only as one who has seen its brutality, its stupidity."

* * *

**Chapter 4**

**Graduation**

Kaden woke to the sound of Lombax Praetorian Academy's band. They were playing over the intercoms that usually sourced the Lombax Reveille that played automatically every 24 hours at five in the morning. Kaden, however, read 8:30 on his projection clock. _They let us sleep in this year…_

He yawned and rubbed his eyes. His fur was in such a pattern that he didn't have any stripes on his body. A shower would take care of that. His vision was blurred, and he felt a bit drowsy. But it was graduation day. The very thought put a smile on his face that made him look stupid, but he didn't care. This was the only day he lived for, when all of his hard work paid the bills…

He walked over to his closet and opened the door. His uniforms, all color-coded and placed by size, were perfectly neat, straight, unwrinkled, and just perfect for the events of today. He took his black dress uniform shirt and pants, grabbed his white gloves, and took his black beret off of his hat rack. He threw his clothes on, careful to make sure they were still as perfect as they were when they were on the rack, and tilted his beret slightly to the left. He checked himself out in his dorm window.

_Textbook class,_ he thought to himself, glad that nobody could see him pulling faces in his reflection. He squinted his eyes and wrinkled his nose, then put on a toothy smile and threw up a peace symbol with his hands. He relaxed his face, then moved the left side of his mouth over to the right, his mouth looking like it was just a hole in the side of his face. He relaxed his face again, then puckered up, his upper lip touching the underside of his cute wet nose. He stuck his tongue out and blew air into his cheeks, moving his tongue between his lips in a way that kept the air in his mouth. He bugged his eyes out, and he thought of how strongly he currently resembled a native fish of Pokitaru. He laughed in a classic teenager octave, and he was filled with joy and carelessness. His door opened, and he turned around to see a flash of something running at him before throwing its arms around him.

"Kaden!" It was Jasmine. She, too, had the same uniform, though it was a smaller size and didn't include a beret. "You look so handsome!" she said.

"_I_ look good?" he replied. "Have you seen your reflection?"

Jasmine kissed him on the cheek. Ignoring his last question, she said, "So, today's the day, huh? After five years of hard work, we're at the top. How exciting, right?"

"Yeah," said Kaden, smiling and looking up, staring into oblivion and becoming absorbed in his memories. He shook his head and looked back into the eyes of his girlfriend. "Do you know where you want to be when you become a Guardsman?"

"I'm thinking combat medic. The adrenaline rush of battlefield warfare and the meticulous task of repairing wounds and injuries…It sounds like a lot of fun. I'm assuming you'll be in pyrotechnics or cryogenics or some other something like that?"

"No specific branch, just science in general. Every type of science there is out there, and I'm hoping to work with them all."

"Well, Kaden, when we're worlds away and worrying if the other of us is dead, just remember this: I love you." With that, she threw her arms around him and kissed him. Kaden did the same. It was perfect. Everything was right with the Omniverse. He was moving up on the food chain. He would get his dream job, maybe even his dream girl if future events went off without a hitch.

Jasmine broke the kiss, but allowed Kaden to hold her a little longer. "I'll see you tonight," she said. "Congratulations, Kaden."

"You, too," he said softly, smiling at her. He let go of her, and she left his dorm. She stopped at the doorway and turned around, mouth opened as if she wanted to say something. She closed her mouth, looked down, then shook her head, and walked out. Kaden watched her leave. His heart burned with desire. Only he knew how much he loved her; right now he was only halfheartedly expressing his love for her. Even though they saw each other as often as possible in their spare time, he knew he wasn't showing his full character. He deeply, truly loved her, and he had an intense hope that she felt the same. Tonight had to be the night…

Alister walked into his dorm, clearly as happy as he had been when he first heard he was accepted into the Guard. He, too, was wearing Kaden's outfit; they were mandatory for formal occasions, such as funerals, on-base weddings, graduation, and so on and so forth. He threw his arms around Kaden, hugging him the way men hug each other- a few pats on the back and a second's worth of contact.

"We made it, punk," he said happily.

"That makes two of us, sleazebag," Kaden retorted playfully. Alister chuckled.

"When's the ceremony?" he asked.

"I think it's at 1200 sharp. You have any family coming to see you walk?"

"My mom, obviously. That's probably it," Alister said, his tone now less happy. Kaden immediately wished he hadn't asked.

"Your dad was a great lombax, Alister. He didn't deserve to die that way."

"Don't talk about it," said Alister. "I don't want to be the cloud that takes the sun away. It's graduation! I'm one step closer to being a soldier, just like Dad!" He said it with an attempted courage about him.

"Well, then, I wish you the best of luck. Hey, you been in contact with Edan lately? Do you know if he's graduating today? I just thought of it."

"Actually, no. I haven't spoken to him for…" Alister paused, thinking. "…five or so days."

"Why don't we go down and check? His dorm's on the ground level."

"That makes sense," said Alister. "They've listed him as 'expendable' by putting him on the lower level. If there's a Cragmite attack, he'll the first to know…and probably one of the first to die."

"Okay, can we not think about that and just go visit him?" Kaden's tone was impatient; Alister had a habit of rambling for hours on end about the worst-case scenario for every situation. The one thing Kaden didn't want to happen to him was getting talked to death by his best friend mere hours before he graduated. Orvus forbid. Alister humored him, however, and he walked out of Kaden's dorm, Kaden following suit. As they walked through hallways and down staircases, they talked about their career plans.

"Hey, Alister, I know that you want to be a front lines soldier, but which specialty do you want to be in?" asked Kaden.

"Actually, I talked with Zorven. He said that I would best work in a special operations division."

"Go on."

"That's the thing," said Alister. "He refused to tell me anything else; he said that my level of physique and knowledge of tactical warfare and strategy puts me among those who have been classified. I can't know anything else unless I actually work in a spec ops division."

"Well, isn't that cliché?" Kaden said with a high, comedic voice, his mouth warped into an unnatural smile. He relaxed his mouth and talked in a normal voice once again. "Same here. Zorven says that I would be great as a scientist, but he can't tell me anything else unless I join the science division."

"With our luck, all of other lombaxes know everything about their career decisions while we're kept in the dark," said Alister. The pair stopped in front of a door. Kaden, who was closer to it, turned the knob and opened it. The door swung open, and they walked inside. Edan's dorm was the same as Kaden's as far as looks went. The only difference was the neatness. Kaden's dorm was absolutely Guardsman-worthy. Everything was straight and clean, there were no visible dirt molecules anywhere, and his items were all ordered perfectly. Edan, on the other hand, looked like he could really care less.

Clothing of every kind was strewn about the room in every which way imaginable. Edan's bed mattress was lower on one corner than the rest of the frame; part of the frame had come loose after Edan purposefully smashed his holo-guitar into it. The resulting heap of metal had taken Kaden hours to repair, and Edan had never wrecked his guitar since that occasion. Different snack items with brand names on them littered the floor. Kaden whistled.

"You check for any vitals in here. I'll go grab a shovel," said Alister.

No sooner had he said that than sarcastic laughter started emanating from the room. Something moved in the far left corner of the dorm. Edan stepped out of the shadows.

"Why are you here?" he asked.

"We just wanted to know if you graduated," said Alister uncertainly.

"Me? Graduate?" Edan played dumb as he walked over and lay on his bed, looking up at the ceiling and tossing a hoverball. "Army learn hard. How army, white bread?" He held both hands up, pretending there was something between them, and clicked his teeth.

"You've made your point," replied Alister. "No need to berate on the whole 'You're normal, I'm white-furred' thing."

"Why aren't you graduating, Edan?" asked Kaden. "Don't you want to?"

"_Want_ to?" Edan said in disbelief. "Why would I _want_ to? Free meals, same crap repeating itself over and over, shooting things and blowing stuff up- this is the life, dude." He sat up. "I don't know why those guys would want to risk their lives doing this B.S. on interplanetary orders when you can do the same damn thing on Fastoon. Plus, the commanders know me," he said with a sly, trouble-making smile. "I love it when people know me." Without warning, he threw the hoverball directly at Kaden's head at 120 kilometers an hour. The yellow lombax's upper body quickly bent towards the right, leaning out of the hoverball's path. Kaden threw a hand up and caught it, turning three hundred and sixty degrees to let the kinetic energy from the ball transfer to his hand slowly enough to prohibit it from stinging his hand. Not only that, but he couldn't resist showing off. He tossed it back to Edan, who caught it and smiled.

"Nice. You've still got it," he said.

"But you must have some regrets," said Alister, a bit desperately.

"Yeah, but the pros far outweigh the cons," came Edan's answer. He looked at his two friends: Kaden, whose suit was a bit disheveled from his hoverball encounter, and Alister, who looked like he came out of a textbook. "You guys are dressed like you're gonna go cruise chicks." Edan tried, but failed, to say it with a straight face, and he snorted derisively. "Have fun."

"Sorry, Edan," said Kaden sincerely. "Good luck next year."

"Orvus forbid, Kaden. See you around." With that, Kaden and Alister left Edan's dorm, closed the door behind them, and walked down to the parking lot. They entered Kaden's red speeder, and headed off to the auditorium a click away- all the way on the other side of campus. They talked while driving.

"I can't believe that guy!" said Alister with anger in his voice.

"Alister, calm down. He can rot in that dorm if he wants. If he doesn't want to be condemned to that stinkhole, then he'll have to spruce it up a little," said Kaden worriedly, trying to calm Alister before he started yelling.

"But talking about those guys laying down their lives right now like it doesn't even matter!"

"Alister, that wasn't personal or anything. He doesn't even know that your father died in combat."

"I know it wasn't personal, but that was totally unnecessary! I should report him for blasphemy against the Guard!"

"Alister, it was a misunderstanding."

"_How can you say-_"

"Alister!" Kaden's tone was now short and authoritative. Alister heeded him, and fell silent. "As I say, Edan knows nothing of your family history. Now, I can see the angle he's coming from, and I see his point, but there isn't a Zoni's chance in hell that I wouldn't give my life for the Guard if I could. We're graduating. You're one step closer to your father's achievements." The huge, domed auditorium was now in sight. "Keep your cool for as long as the graduation ceremony takes, alright? Zorven's watching." Kaden just added that last part: he knew he could manipulate Alister with false information because they were friends. That, and Kaden was almost always right.

Alister nodded shortly and stiffly.

"Thank you," said Kaden as he parked his speeder. The weather was great. The sun was out, no clouds were visible, and Kaden was easily able to see the surrounding planets. He walked with Alister up the stairs to the auditorium. The building itself rested on a hill, and it was capable of seating ten thousand lombaxes, not including those who were onstage. Kaden opened the swinging doors and walked straight through the middle of them. The pole between the doors, however, had other ideas.

Kaden stopped suddenly, the pole connecting with his head. "Ow," he said, rubbing his forehead gingerly. He heard Alister laughing quietly.

"Slick," he said.

"Shut up, White Bread, and let's go." Kaden picked up a little object that looked like a detonator. These were customary for the graduating lombaxes to use; they buzzed when the lombax holding it was called for. Alister followed suit, then the pair resumed their walk. They turned left, then right, then right again down a dimly lit hallway like those at holo-theaters. There were a few windows, providing them with an overhead view of the audience count. Kaden saw no empty seats. There must be a reason for this large of a crowd. Kaden figured that he and Alister would find out why soon enough. They continued on their way in silence. After a right turn, they saw many Academy cadets just like them. They were just standing there, talking to each other. Kaden consulted his wrist. The time was 0857 hours. The ceremony was supposed to start at 0900. Kaden had three minutes. _Where's Jasmine?_ He asked himself. There were too many lombaxes around; he could not get a clear view of anything. Even Alister had melted into the crowd. Now Kaden was alone without the two people he cared about most. _Perfect job, Kaden,_ he grilled himself. _Now don't screw this up. You've gotta be cool for tonight…_ Kaden felt a hand on his shoulder. He turned around and looked up into the face of…

"General Zorven?"

The old, war-hardened lombax smiled and patted Kaden's shoulder. "That's my name," he said. "Don't wear it out."

"Don't worry, sir, I won't," replied Kaden.

"All work and no play, Corporal? It's a joke. You're allowed to enjoy yourself whilst graduating."

"I'm kind of wrapped up in the moment. I just lost track of the person whom I'm supposed to drive to their dorm. But I have to ask, General- why are you here, with the cadets? Isn't there some place more prestigious than in a crowd with a bunch of new Agorian fodder?"

Zorven laughed, then said, "You're right, Corporal. Actually, I'm the speaker for the entire ceremony. I'll be calling you to receive your graduation certificate."

"Why haven't they done that in years past?"

"Because I was fighting off Agorian invaders, like that _Road to War_ video game. Yes, I know," he said, as Kaden was going to say something. "I'm not unlike any other lombax. I can enjoy my life, and video games are one way I do just that. I mean, I'm all for the Guard and everything, but…let's just say 24/7 service isn't my thing.

"I wish we could talk more, Corporal, you're an intelligent lombax; but I need to get to the speaker's pulpit right now, or at least-" General Zorven checked his wrist- "-sometime before the next thirty seconds."

"Talk to you later, General," said Kaden, pressing himself against the wall for Zorven to pass through. Zorven took the hint and walked away towards the stage. Kaden relaxed and pulled himself off the wall. He watched Zorven part the crowd with his very presence, and he heard a voice behind him.

"Kaden! Where've you been? I've been looking for you everywhere!"

Kaden turned around to see Alister.

"Where've _I_ been? You disappeared the second we walked into the crowd!"

"Okay, now I'm confused."

Kaden smiled. "Don't worry about it, Alister. We're here, and we know where the other guy is. Now, let's graduate."

Zorven's voice now boomed on the stage. Kaden couldn't hear what he was saying, but it was probably some sort of introductory speech. Kaden looked over at Alister. "Have you gone a darker red?" he asked his friend.

"How would I know the answer to that question? I can't see my face, can I?"

Kaden knew Alister was annoyed, so he let the conversation go. The crowd of lombaxes moved up a small amount of space, Kaden and Alister following. "They must be calling the names," said Kaden. He turned around. Alister was gone. "Alister?" he called out. _Where did he go?_ thought Kaden. Then he remembered. _Ah, his last name starts with "A-z." He's one of the first lombaxes to graduate because of his name._ _Makes sense._ And so the pattern repeated. The crowd thinned gradually. Lombaxes walked towards the stage. Kaden felt like it was taking hours for the passing between each lombax's moment of pride. Finally, he felt a buzz in his pocket, signaling him to walk up and get his reward for the past five years of hard work. He made his way through the small crowd of lombax cadets still waiting for their buzzers and walked out on the stage.

The lights were the first things he felt. He could imagine performing for two hours under this kind of heat. He'd probably sweat himself to death; that is, if the brightness of the light didn't turn his eyes to eye sockets first. The stage was maybe fifteen feet in diameter, but to Kaden, it felt like fifty. The crowded mass was clapping and roaring at the mention of Kaden's name; he was well-known for being the brightest teenage lombax in the Omniverse. Zorven looked at him, not taking his eyes off for even a second. The general was smiling, paper in hand. Kaden finally got to him. He shook Zorven's hand, and the general gave Kaden his certificate. As he did, he whispered.

"Amazing job with the simulator, son. I'd be proud to fight alongside you any day."

"Thank you, General," said Kaden. With that, he walked offstage. He almost fainted while he was making his way to the door. Kaden thought his nervousness might be showing. He opened the door and walked into a smaller sea of lombaxes than he had seen at the other end of the auditorium. Alister's was the first face he saw. Alister saw Kaden, as well.

"Kaden! How'd it go?"

"It was rather nerve-wracking," he said flatly. "I walked, got the certificate, got a compliment from Zorven, and walked in here."

"What did he say?" asked Alister eagerly.

"He said, 'I'd be proud to fight alongside you any day.'"

"Kaden, you are the man! To actually hear that with your own ears, Zorven saying he'd be your right-hand man whenever you need somebody, that's extremely rare!"

"Yeah, great," said Kaden. "Have you seen Jasmine?"

"No, not since last night when I saw her across the bar at that arcade place on the other side of campus. Not drunk, you understand," he added hurriedly, "neither of us. We didn't have anything embarrassing happen. I'd put away a shot of a Black Lumos, but nothing major."

"I didn't know there was a bar...or that you were legally able to drink. How old are you?"

"Nearly 22. I was 18 when I started."

"Huh. I thought you were 17."

"Nope. And how have you not heard about that place? It's like everything there is virtual-reality. You have to run in place, turn around three sixty degrees, raise your 30-pound gun to aim, just like real life."

"Sounds interesting. Well, I have somewhere to be," said Kaden. "Come with me, I need to give you a ride back to your dorm. We have to clean out, cause we get to go home to our families tomorrow, right?"

"Yeah," replied Alister, "and for the next week. Sure you don't want to stay at my dorm? I got drinks."

"It's your business if you get buzzed, Alister," said Kaden as they climbed into his transport. "I, however, despise the taste of any alcohol entirely."

"Well, you can't say the same about smoking. I've seen you light up a few times."

"Yeah, because they're medical supplements." Kaden started driving. "Plus, I like the feel of a cigarette between your fingers, taking a bit of that stuff once in a while."

"Medical supplements," scoffed Alister. "What's next? Fruity flavors?" he teased.

"Hey, I did that with my nute tubes."

"Your what?"

"Nutrient tubes, or nute tubes for short. Apparently, you don't speak nerd."

"It just sort of sounded like it went with a male enhancement supplement, is all I'm saying."

Kaden gave a trio of high-pitched, sarcastic laughs. "Alister, you are extremely…" He was going to finish his sentence, but Alister yelled-

"TURN RIGHT!"

Kaden jerked his speeder to the right. The two friends missed another speeder by micrometers. Kaden panted, calming himself. He started to say something. "You little sonuva…" He sighed in frustration. The next few minutes of navigating seemed like it took forever. Alister stayed silent, but his mere aura just angered Kaden. The other driver was probably feeling the same way right now. Finally, they reached their dorms. Kaden parked in his reserved spot, then jumped out of his speeder, using only his widespread legs to do a complete three hundred and sixty degree turn in the air, then landing without a scratch.

"Come on, Alister. Let's get packing. One week isn't much of a summer vacation. Plus, you can just stay at my place if you want." It was true: Kaden had recently purchased a piece of property he could call home. He had to work quite a lot, but he eventually strengthened Axiom City's defense grid by over seven thousand percent. _Of course, it was still "The Weakest Planet in the Galaxy" or whatever that stupid award was called,_ thought Kaden. Without waiting for his friend's response to his invitation, Kaden walked into the dorms, past Edan's room (where he heard _Forever Forsaken_ by _Tetramite Death Sentence_ playing full blast), and walked up the stairs to his dorm. Within the hour, this would be as barren as it had been when he first walked into it when he was a Shiny. The Guard had quite an odd way of distinguishing the ranks whilst on campus. Shinies were the newest recruits. Their nicknames came from their appearance: shiny. They had never battled in a simulation before, they had never tried to invent something new, and they certainly hadn't had a crazed lombax yelling at them and telling them what to do…unless, of course, they had been in Kaden's ninth grade Intergalactic Fit Fighters class. That year was the worst of his life. Of course, he was the only lombax there who could bench press five times his own body weight. Well, he got it off the bar, then he blacked out and woke up in the hospital two days later. Eventually, he was released with no complications. Kaden started to gather everything and sort it on his bed. _No time to waste…_


End file.
